


Stuck in The Night

by yuedemao



Category: NINE PERCENT (Band), 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer (TV)
Genre: Baby zhenghao had two lines lol, Eventual Romance, Friendship/Love, M/M, Mortal!Yanjun, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Sun god!Zhangjing, i guess?, idk just see for yourself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:54:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27141386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuedemao/pseuds/yuedemao
Summary: The sun hasn't been visible in more than a week and people are starting to wonder if the sun was lost or gone for good. It was around the same time Yan Jun found this boy on the apartment building's rooftop.
Relationships: Lin Yanjun/You Zhangjing
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11
Collections: Cloud 9 Fic Fest





	Stuck in The Night

**Author's Note:**

> Uhm fun fact is that the sun cannot not exist or else we won't see anything plus we're gonna die rip. So thankfully, this was kind of inspired by the concept of the Chinese Sun goddess Xihe's children, the Ten Suns (you can look it up and end up reading about the Chinese Moon goddess Changxi too!) I hope the mix of it with this fic was fine!

_“In today’s Special Report: the mystery behind the global phenomenon we now call, “the Darker Skies” is still unsolved. Experts have been in disarray as to what is actually going on in space. As we all know, after the strange occurrence of a Blood Moon on the 23rd of September, the skies during the next days had become significantly dark, as if we’re only living between the dusk and the night. While some people could only go on with their lives and adapt to this change, some are genuinely worried that this might be a sign of the end of time--”_

Yan Jun turns the radio off before making his way out with his keys on one hand, and, like what the radio commentator said something about people going on with their lives, adjusts his laundry basket on his side after locking his humble apartment. He doesn’t really care why the sky has suddenly turned so dark that day; in all honesty, the only thing he needs is for the sun to go back up where it should be and help poor people like him dry up his clothes. It’s been more than a week without any sunshine, and he doesn’t have that much money to buy a decent detergent that will make his clothes smell better without being dried under the sun.

Thankfully though, this darker skies situation does not bother Yan Jun in any more ways, because he couldn’t waste a minute or two wondering where the sun went when he’s supposed to worry how to pay his rent by the end of next week. He had to work two jobs just to make it, and it took half of his way to the rooftop to compute just how much would be left for himself after paying whatever the bills stacked in his mailbox were.

There won't be much left, and as usual, he'd consider himself lucky if it's enough for another whole month's worth of groceries.

Yan Jun pushes the door to the rooftop open and was, for a short while, wondering what hour of the day it is when he’s met by the dark. He dramatically sighs. Right. There’s just too much to think about that he momentarily forgot that the sun was still weirdly not in its rightful place. He feels the wall at the side of the door with one hand to switch the light on, then he steps out again.

Speculations about the lost sun never really died down, because unlike Yan Jun, a lot of people have so much time in their hands to care. He recalls how sick he was of hearing their theories that varied from scientific, mystical, to just nonsensical. And all these from different forms of media broadcasts, and even from the random people in the little restaurant he works for as a dishwasher.

Yan Jun scowls. He remembered the situation he’s in to make matters worse: he wouldn’t be working in that little restaurant anymore next Monday. Apparently, the lady owner was tired of hearing complaints of soap residue on their plates or grease stuck on their utensils. In Yan Jun’s defense, he was always told to work faster, and was always nagged to save more dishwashing liquid. He wouldn't say these reasons out loud though, not anymore, because why would it matter?

He just got fired, and he’s growing more frustrated by the second; he’s going to look for another way to survive within this weekend but his clothes are still currently damp when he touched them. The only other pair of jeans he owns is still dripping wet too. The rooftop of the apartment building used to be a good spot for hanging his newly washed laundries, with no one else coming up there to do the same because they probably have dryers that Yan Jun never had, but now he can't even have the sun on his side. He just scratches his head in annoyance, pulling the hanged shirt--

“What the f-- What are you doing there!” Yan Jun held his shirt to his chest as he feels the shock spread through his whole body.

There, at the pile of the rooftop junk, was an unfamiliar guy sitting idly on a worn-out sofa chair. He was a few steps away from the clothesline Yan Jun made from scrap cords that came from the same stupid pile. The stranger was dressed in a hoodie-- _Yan Jun’s hoodie, for goodness’ sake_ \--and when Yan Jun realizes, he had an even more sour face; he’s been looking for that one for ages and now he just finds it worn by someone he doesn't even know?

It was a bit bigger on Yan Jun himself when he tried the hoodie on in the thrift shop, but it looked a whole lot bigger on the stranger, the hem riding up just around his thighs. It seemed he was wearing nothing but that hooded sweatshirt, bare feet curled up in the cold, and his dark brown hair was quite unruly with a few curls sticking out, like those of the idols on TV who can call bedhead a hairstyle and get away with it. Yan Jun's eyes went back a little lower, staring at the smaller guy a bit longer. He could swear to the gods that the guy looked like he came out of a milk bath with how white and flawless his exposed skin was, as if he could try turning the rooftop's light off and this guy will just glow in the dark. The train of thought stopped there when he realizes that the guy has stopped biting nervously on the edges of his nails, dropping his hand on his lap to tilt his head curiously at Yan Jun.

 _Dub-dub. Dub-dub_. Yan Jun could hear in his head how hard his heart was beating. He was never afraid of the dark, but what if this guy in the dark turns out to be some evil entity brought by the darker skies, acting innocent now only to deceive him? He should consider just running out of there for his life while he still can, yet he starts to ask, “Are you… alive?”

The guy perks up and immediately nods and reaches out, perhaps more enthusiastically than expected, and Yan Jun's reflexes made him take a step back. The latter needs more convincing because of course, _that’s exactly what a ghost would say to lure their victim._ He smiles to himself as if that reallization was an achievement, only that his head makes just another argument with itself. _But he must be really alive to be able to steal and wear my stuff?_ That made much more sense. Yan Jun crossed his arms across his chest, not minding how the shirt in his hand is now crumpled. (He could always iron it later even if he hates that chore the most.) “Why are you wearing my clothes? Are you a thief?”

This time the guy shakes his head frantically, making quick motions in the air with his hands, probably in an attempt to explain himself, but Yan Jun obviously could not understand any of it at all.

“Hold up,” Yan Jun raises his hand in front of him, palm facing out. “Can’t you speak?”

There was a slow shake of the head before the guy looked down at his lap, playing with his fingers this time like they were more interesting at the moment. _Of course he can’t, you insensitive prick._ He looked like a lost little child, and Yan Jun may be grumpy at times but he has never ever made a child cry, and neither does he have the heart to make this guy cry now. “Alright, I don’t know why or how long you’ve been up here, but I know you don’t live here. Isn’t that right?”

The guy looks up at him and nods. It seems it’s all this person could do to communicate clearly, and that makes it even worse for him. It’s like this person was stripped off of everything important he could have had. Yan Jun knows how hard it is to live without a roof above one’s head when his father kicked him out of the house when he was a kid, and he’s reminded of a weaker version of himself with how helpless this strange guy currently is. “Fine. I suppose I won’t call the cops on you-- not because I don’t have doubts on who you are, I just know for a fact that they’re never able to help.”

The guy listens attentively to Yan Jun, his eyes wide like that of a cat’s when in the dark. Yan Jun finds it cute, which may or may not be a an odd thing to think about right now, but he sighs as something in him finally decides. He’s pretty sure that the guy is harmless, at least for now, and he feels like it wouldn’t hurt to give the guy a place to stay in until tonight. If he plans to stay longer or go somewhere else after today, Yan Jun does not know. They’ll cross that bridge if they get there. “I’m just taking my clothes, and then you come with me.”

Walking back to his apartment side by side the stranger didn’t feel uneasy, with how the smaller guy walked cautiously, Yan Jun even took the chance to do him a one-over. Strange guy was avoiding eye contact and bowed his head down all the while they walked, but there seemed to be a tinge of discomfort on his face. It was then that Yan Jun threw a glance at his feet and remembered the guy was barefoot, and the tiled floor was probably too cold for him. “Were you robbed or something? You really look like you have nothing on you but my hoodie.”

The guy only looks at him, pale cheeks now a rosy bloom, and Yan Jun finds those brown eyes really cute--for the second time around--with all the hallway lights now making his features clearer. Yan Jun clears his throat and chooses to look away. He felt like he just picked up a stray kitten, one that doesn’t even make a sound at first but acts all cute until they reach the point where they begin to rule your life. He definitely hopes that’s not how this ends.

They neared his door and Yan Jun knows it’s going to be awkward if he suddenly chickened out and just left the poor guy out in the hallway. No, it's too late, so he just inserted his key, placed a hand on the door handle and looked back. “Hey. Before anything else, I want you to swear with your life that you are not lying about being homeless and mute. I only assumed both things. If you’re lying, I’m giving you the chance to admit, because I will eventually find out and then I’ll send you to the police for trespassing my home. Do you understand?”

The guy nods, hair bouncing a bit with how he nodded his head like a child. Yan Jun noticed that that was cute too, but that’s just too much from what he could admit.

When Yan Jun unlocks the door to his apartment, the guy holds onto the back of Yan Jun's shirt. Turrning, he saw the worry in the smaller guy’s eyes. Right, with how rare good deeds are, even the slightest fear this guy must be feeling is valid. Yan Jun has to assure him about this himself. “Look, I’m not the bad guy here, so I promise I’m not bringing you into my home to do anything weird.” He opens the door, turns the lights on, and reveals the small space he calls home. “See, nothing strange inside. Come on.”

Yan Jun lets him in first before locking the door behind them. He takes a few quick steps to the end of the room, dropping his laundry basket there as he did a quick search in the drawers. He checks on his guest and found him still standing awkwardly by the door. “Hey, take a seat here first. I’m looking for some paper you can write on so I can understand you better.”

The guy complies, feet barely making a sound at each step, before finally sitting behind Yan Jun who just grabbed a marker from a cup that held pens he wasn’t sure were working since he barely used them anymore.

“What’s your name?” Sounds like they would be playing a one-sided game of 20 questions, Yan Jun thinks. Today was a Saturday, so maybe he could take his time. “I'm Yan Jun. You could write here and then we’ll figure out some things, that alright?”

The guy nods and reaches for the marker Yan Jun placed in front of him. His hands were covered entirely by the long sleeves, the cuffs hanging off his entire limbs. Yan Jun watches as the guy eyed the marker in his hands for a long while. Impatiently, he took the marker from the smaller’s hands and removed the cap.

_**Can you read and write? Yes [] No []** _

It was silent, save for the rustle of the paper they passed between them. It was the kind of silence Yan Jun preferred whenever he was home, and the more time that passes, the more he feels at ease even with a new person in the house.

He finds out that the guy’s name is Zhang Jing, and he can more than read and write. Zhang Jing drew himself in what looked like a comic strip, not the best drawing panels out there, but the story was comprehensible enough: he was running, then he was falling from clouds, then he was lying on the rooftop, and he’s been sitting there for ten days.

Yan Jun gently placed the papers Zhang Jing drew on down on the table. He wonders if Zhang Jing could be any _more_ bizarre; he cannot speak and has stolen his clothes, but has illustrated himself as someone who fell from the sky and stayed alive without food or water for more than a week at the roof. “Are you hungry? You must be _really_ hungry. Stay put. I’ll make us something.”

Yan Jun can cook, of course. It’s a basic skill to survive. He opens the cupboard and finds there his last two packs of instant spicy noodles, which would have lasted him until tomorrow if only he didn’t take Zhang Jing in. It was too late to regret that again though, and so he proceeds to boil the water, trying to analyze the situation as Zhang Jing had tried to tell him.

If he’s really been out there for ten days, that means he probably saw the weird moon. He claimed to fall from the sky, but aside from that being impossible and simply ridiculous, that was around the same time the Darker Skies started. It’s funny how it kind of matches Zhang Jing's story. Yan Jun should probably ask him if he brought the sun with him when he fell that day, just to joke-

_Oh. Wait._

Yan Jun had to shake himself off the trance before he switched the stove off. In a second, he was back in the living room where Zhang Jing was still seated quietly, not moving an inch away on his spot in front of the low table. This is silly, but Yan Jun wants an answer because _it's crazy but... what if?_ He snatched the papers and looked at the drawings again. When Zhang Jing drew himself running, aside from the clouds behind him, there were tiny lines around his body, signifying that he was literally _glowing_. When he was falling from the sky, the clouds he drew were shaded black, but the lines around him were still there. On the last drawing, his body was lying on the top of a building, and he didn’t draw the little lines around himself anymore. The glowing was gone. _Just like the sun._

Yan Jun was aghast, and it was not only because the unusual drawings are beginning to click, but also because one of Zhang Jing’s sleeves is now rolled up on his arm, and the marker he's holding is melting in his hand. _Melting. In his hand_. Like a popsicle left under the sun. This is humanly impossible. “ _Holy shit_.”

The ink was all over Zhang Jing’s hand and a small puddle of black was pooling on the floor.

“Zhang Jing?” Yan Jun tries to hide the tremble in his voice. “Are you… were you… the sun?”

Zhang Jing stares at him as if he grew another head.

They stared at each other like it was a competition on who blinks first, and Yan Jun knows he’s not winning. He blinks, once, twice, and then he starts to see the sides of Zhang Jing’s pink lips curl upward, until his mouth was agape, letting out the heartiest laugh Yan Jun could only ever hear from old, drunk customers who came for the restaurant’s soup only to break the finished bowls. He’s not sure if he’s lucky he’s not coming back to such a place next week, when today he’s faced with this kind of situation.

“My apologies,” Zhang Jing’s inked hand was now on his stomach, making the most out of his own laughter. “I can’t help it because you look and sound funny,” Yan Jun was confused and he wants to ask a lot of things but chooses to stay silent because he’s not even sure where to start. _Just what the fuck is happening?_

Zhang Jing adjusted his position on his seat and propped an elbow on the table, a closed fist under his chin to support the weight of his head. “First off, yes, I am a Sun, but just one of the ten Suns.”

Yan Jun doesn’t respond, but he remained standing there, his knees suddenly feeling like jelly as if he was the one who hasn’t eaten for ten days. It passed his mind that if Zhang Jing starts to do something suspicious, it’ll be easier for him to try to run away this way, even if he feels like he can’t trust his legs at the moment.

“You look so stiff, Yan Jun. I promise I’m not the bad guy here,” Zhang Jing mimics Yan Jun’s words earlier, and Yan Jun could only glare at him--for lying, for being the sun, and for doing whatever he did with his fucking marker. Zhang Jing pouts. “Staring is rude. I thought you knew that? Humans are really weird beings.”

“You think staring is weird? Do you even know how weird you are to me right now?” Yan Jun was close to losing his mind. If not, he may have already lost it. “I was minding my own business and then you came looking like you needed help since you were mute and homeless, and then I find out you’re the reason why it’s been dark outside for the last ten days and you can fucking talk, and you just melted my marker! Yeah! I must be the weird one!”

Zhang Jing rolls his eyes at him and Yan Jun felt even more offended, but he mentally prepares himself for whatever bullshit Zhang Jing has to say to defend himself.

“For the record, I really needed help, was homeless, and really am the reason why it’s dark outside.” Zhang Jing counts each fact with a finger up, but then places his hand back under his chin. “But you’re wrong if you think I was lying about being mute when you found me. I really didn’t have my voice for the past days, and just decided not to leave up there until my brothers came up with something to fetch me. Those bastards aren’t here yet though, and I wonder if Mother’s freaking out.”

Somehow, Yan Jun was relieved that Zhang Jing talked like a normal human being, with how naturally he speaks about his troubles. He may have been amused with the mention of Zhang Jing's family, but Zhang Jing still isn’t off the hook. Who knows if he’s still lying? School taught children that there’s only one sun all the planets revolve around. Now Zhang Jing appeared before him, messes the idea of a solar system, claims he’s one of the ten suns, and was temporarily mute? What if he’s lying right to Yan Jun's face? “If you think I’m convinced, you should try again.”

“I thought I would have to be nodding or shaking my head like an idiot just to communicate with you, but it seems that was more effective than trying to make you believe me with my words now,” Zhang Jing grumbles. “I’m not sure why, but when you rushed out of here and asked me if I was the Sun, your eyes were like saucers, you know, I just had to laugh! I just wanted to laugh and that’s when I realized I suddenly got my voice back. So thank you, you were really funny.” Zhang Jing chuckles as he retells his point of view, uphis laughter still threatening to spill. “Now that I have my voice back, what do you want me to do? Make myself shine here and blind you to prove I’m a Sun? I’m telling you, it’s not how it works, Yan Jun, so just accept it. You have the tenth Sun in your house and, well, he’s melting things in his hands.”

For the last ten days, Zhang Jing did nothing much on the rooftop but look at the sky. He’s touched some stuff when he woke up, and found out he either melts them or burns them down into ashes, but not if his skin was covered by his own clothes. “When I sat down, the springy couch didn’t crumble! So I thought that it was because my clothes were in the way. My white robes were torn though, so I took your sweatshirt--which is comfortably large for me by the way--and got back to watching the darkness the whole time.”

“You have to go back up there so the darkness would go away,” Yan Jun says, eyes still on Zhang Jing while they both slurped the noodles he cooked. “The public is still in the dark, literally and figuratively, about the reason on why the Sun, for the first time as far as mankind remembers, has not showed up. Everyone’s looking for answers.”

“Don’t you humans have nothing better to do? No offense meant, though,” his mouth was full, and Yan Jun wanted to doubt if Zhang Jing was really a Sun god with how sloppily the guy was eating. “Why would you even want to know the reason why the Sun was gone? Shouldn’t you just wait things out?”

“Sorry Sun god, we don’t wait things out down here.” Yan Jun replies, finishing his bowl before speaking up again. “Humans like us must be cursed to be curious, and since we have a limited time for living, we want to know reasons behind things. You know, just to satisfy our curiosity before we eventually die.”

“You make it sound less sad.”

“Why should it be sad?” Yan Jun takes his and Zhang Jing’s bowls and places it in the empty casserole, thinking hard while he was picking up bits of food from the messy table. “I think it’s nice to know there’s an end to some things. Like rent, or bills, or suffering.”

“Are you suffering?” Zhang Jing asks so casually, and Yan Jun doesn’t even think twice about his answer.

“Yes.” Yan Jun stared into Zhang Jing’s eyes a bit longer it made his insides tingle, but he did a good job pretending he was meant to say something serious, before he smirked. “Because I needed to dry my clothes but you’re not up there. Have mercy on all the other people out here suffering like I am, Mr. Sun.”

Zhang Jing looks at him now with a bored expression. “I take it back, you’re not funny.”

Yan Jun laughs at the face Zhang Jing made, before he stands up and takes the dishes to the kitchen. “For real though, it’s been a while since you’ve been gone, why can’t you just go back yourself?”

“I don’t know, I didn’t find some staircase from heaven so I definitely don’t know if there’s one leading the way back up,” Zhang Jing pauses as Yan Jun turned to look at him with a smile on his face. “Why are you-”

“Nothing, it’s just- you must have been kicked from the skies for either talking too much or talking with too much sarcasm. But hey, you're a sun god yet you're talking to me, I should be grateful."

“Wow, nobody has ever thanked me for being sarcastic. Humans are so weird.”

“Well, they say there’s always a first time for everything.” Yan Jun doesn’t speak a lot, focused on finishing whatever he has scheduled to do in a day, and it's been that way all his life. He never bothered making small memories with temporary people. Never tried to stray away from plans- which are, plainly put, just ways to survive. Today is too much of a strange day, he can't help but be _curious_. He turned the tap close and asked. "Do you wanna go out?"

Zhang Jing eyes him weirdly, and Yan Jun waits for an answer patiently, shifting his gaze from the brown orbs to the soft curls touching the sun god's brows. "You're not leaving me somewhere else by the end of this, are you?"

Yan Jun's brows furrowed. That did not even cross his mind, despite it being a great idea. "Never mind."

Zhang Jing's hands flew to cover his mouth in surprise. "You're totally throwing me out, _oh my dad_ , I should've known! You were being nice and you gave me my last meal and-"

If there were really ten suns, Zhang Jing is no doubt the youngest with how childishly he reacts. "You're overthinking things. I just thought that maybe you'd want to go to the rooftop again and I'll help you think of what to do to go back up in the skies or... wherever you're supposed to be."

"Oh," the smaller lowered his hands, and played with his stubby fingers for the nth time that day. "Is this what you meant that there's a first time for everything? Are you asking me out on a date?"

"What- what date are you talking about? And why do you know that concept!" Yan Jun felt a rush in his system, a first for himself too. He wonders if this is what the teens online are raving about, calling it the _gay panic._ Are gods really male, though? Or are they genderless like angels, since they aren't even humans? Even if it was a date, with how Zhang Jing pouts his lips at him as if begging for it to indeed be a date, Yan Jun stares at his get-up. Up, down, and then quickly back up as he fakes a cough. "Anyway, if we're going, you need pants. It's been cold these days."

Yan Jun led his guest to his bedroom, and after shuffling through a few of his garments and trying to tell himself that it shouldn't be considered a date, handed Zhang Jing the smallest jogging pants he had in his closet, one he hasn't used for a long time since dropping out. "This will be fine. You know how to wear these right?"

Zhang Jing snorts at him, but Yan Jun shrugs and leaves him to dress up. Just wanted to make sure. He doesn't even make a third step before he goes back knocking on the door. "You sure you won't burn my clothes to ashes?"

"No! Shut up!"

Yan Jun winces. Zhang Jing is indeed the kind of kitten that ends up bossing you around after you take them in. He shakes his head and yet he can't stop from sniling to himself. The Sun is on earth--in his house, even---and he started this day telling himself that he didn't care why the sun disappeared yet he's itching to ask Zhang Jing _why_ he's here just to start a conversation. Yan Jun's not fond of questioning things, but he's got a lot of questions even for himself. Why did he take this silly, fallen Sun god into his home? Why did he not kick him out when he found out, and instead shared the last pack of noodles he had with him? Why was he giving him the privacy in his own room before he takes him for a walk outside?

He didn't notice he was staring dumbly at the door, not until his hand fell on the knob of his bedroom door. It was _burning hot._ "Fuck!"

"Sorry! I didn't know you were still there!" Zhang Jing scrambled out of the room and towards him, but Yan Jun noticed how his hands stopped midway from touching him. Which is a good thing, but Yan Jun couldn't help but wonder how warm the sun god's skin would be against his. He's supposed to fear this being, but he knows so well that some things happen even when one doesn't mean it to. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," It's just a little burn. He understands that it's not Zhang Jing's fault. "Let's just go."

It was silent on their way to the rooftop, neither of them trying to break the ice between them. Yan Jun swears he's alright, and it's not like Zhang Jing has done anything to intentionally hurt him or destroy his belongings. He could only wish some people learned to be as guilty as this sun god for the trouble and pain they cause others. But alas, humans seem to be creatures a lot more flawed.

  
"You know those stars are dead, right?"

"Well, it's not like they'll ever live in the first place," Zhang Jing comments. "They're like glowing storms, twirling in place. Other gods control them. I won't tell you who they are, though. I might get banned from coming home if I did."

"Okay."

"But it's fun seeing them this way," Yan Jun wouldn't agree, not finding stargazing anywhere near the word fun, but he lets Zhang Jing talk dreamily. He's cute, Yan Jun admits to himself in the end, before looking at the sky to try and see the fun the sun god is talking about. "They look so happy when I look at them from down here."

"They do, I guess."

"You were right."

Yan Jun turned to look at him. "About what?"

"About how nice it is to know there's an end for some things." Zhang Jing smiled, and yet Yan Jun hears the sadness in his tone clearly. He doesn't point it out, rather listens intently to what the sun god wants to say. "Up there, we do what we have to do every single day. We never die, unlike generations of you humans who die still longing for the everlasting."

"Not me."

"I know," Zhang Jing stands up, eyes never leaving the darker skies. Yan Jun wants to help in any way he can, perhaps much more than he wanted the moment he first laid eyes on the sun god. "But given the chance, would you ever agree to be in an endless loop? Stuck like I am?"

"I'm stuck in my life too, if we think about it. I just grow old. And there are things I wouldn't learn before I die, or things I wouldn't have the answers to even on my death bed. If given the chance, I'll take it. I'm human afterall, and just like everybody else, I'm curious."

Zhang Jing faces him. "I'm curious about a lot of things too, but even forever is not enough for me to find all of them out."

Now Yan Jun has a hunch on what happened. Zhang Jing isn't a lost kitten like he thought he was. He was a lonely sun god, who left his job in the heavens because he's _curious_. Zhang Jing purposely fell down from the sky, and Yan Jun is beyond amazed at how Zhang Jing's mind works. "Is that why you ran away?"

"You're smart." He hears Zhang Jing sigh before plopping back down on the worn-out sofa. "But that doesn't mean I wouldn't want to go back."

"Why?"

"I still have to help you dry your clothes."

They laughed, and laughed some more, the echoes ringing in their ears in the middle of a dark, dark day. Yan Jun finds out how he has always been curious. He never did anything about his questions though, aside from stacking them up at the back of his mind, waiting for the time when they'll be answered when they're meant to be answered. He decides to let his question end up there, and that Zhang Jing could keep his secrets to himself.

He grabs his small radio from his side and turned it on. He noticed how Zhang Jing was surprised at the sudden static sound. "It's a radio. We're going to listen to music. Make our conversation a bit more romantic."

"Romantic," Zhang Jing repeated, almost mockingly. "You said this wasn't a date."

"Did I?"

_“In today’s Special Report: people are advised to stay in their homes as the typhoon is expected to make its landfall between tonight until dawn. Weather experts are reminding us not to be deceived by the sun and still bring umbrellas if we're going outsid--”_

Yan Jun woke up.

He rose up and analyzed where he was. He's still in his apartment, and the sun was shining brightly through the window. No apocalyptic, darker skies situation. He must have been dreaming, then. He looked around, blinking tiredly before looking at his phone and finding it was almost noon. It seems like he fell asleep after a long day yesterday. He hopes his laundries are dry by now. He still got to go out and look for another job today.

Yan Jun turns the radio off before making his way out with his keys on one hand, and adjusts his laundry basket on his side after locking his humble apartment.

\--------

"Was it fun?" Zheng Hao asks him, the bite of his mother's dragon already fading away on his neck. He rememembered how mad the goddess Chang Xi was when she found out about her youngest moon trying to join the youngest sun in going down to the mortal world. Zhang Jing couldn't blame her; he knows how much she loved how her twelve moons were all peaceful and quiet, bathing in the waters without intentions of breaking their cycle--unlike the ten suns, who moved in all their brightness and glory. "I'm sorry you had to go alone."

"Don't mention it," Zhang Jing loved every second. In fact, he loved it too much, that no glares from the elder gods who adjusted the universe's time affected him. "It was great."

"But can I ask, when are you going to let him go?"

The tenth Sun smiled, resting his head against his branch, waiting for his turn to shine. The tree swayed slightly as a strong wind suddenly blew, the eldest Sun flapping his wings to take his spot in the sky. It's a new day, and the cycle went on as if it has always been uninterrupted. Zhang Jing tries hard to remember how it felt like when he closed his eyes and trusted that Yan Jun wouldn't mind being in an endless loop. "Until he remembers it was all _real_ without me reminding him."

There are things Yan Jun will not notice, like the missing marker from the cup of pens, or that old sweatpants at the back of his closet. But he will feel a mildly burned patch of skin on his palm, and find a couple of strange drawings shoved in his drawers.

Zhang Jing trusts him to remember.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! If you didn't notice that the whole thing was written in a rush, you're lucky. Haha! Thank you to prompter who had a really good prompt and sorry if I kind of messed it up with this ;-; Also, thank you to mods who still allowed me to claim this though it was waaaay past the deadline! All of you who make up this ficfest are heaven-sent. I hope the ten suns and their mother will bless you.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed reading!


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